The Beat was a natural choice, being so melodic a band, with messages as tough as The Specials, the scope with The Beat was amazing. Bands came forth again at a huge rate to take part. The new project is an exciting one and it also aims to keep a band like The Beat in the public eye where they belong AND raise even more money for Teenage cancer Trust. Supplemented by singles releases by Andrew Craford (Tears of a Clown) The Spritely All Stars ft Ranking Roger (Two Swords), Dave Wakelings split EP with Bigger Thomas with the tracks Mirror in the Bathroom and sole salvation
The Beat (known in North America as The English Beat and in Australia as The British Beat) were founded in Birmingham, England, in 1978. During the early 80’s they had a string of hit singles, including “Mirror in the Bathroom”, “Too Nice to Talk To”, “Can’t Get Used to Losing You”, “Hands Off, She’s Mine” and “All Out to Get You” Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics
The album contains 47 tracks covering the work of The Beat. Like its predecessor, this compilation has the full support of members of The Beat. Both Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger have tracks on the album –Wakeling has re-recorded “Mirror In The Bathroom” and Ranking Roger appears with Hunt Emerson’s band The Spritely Allstars (Emerson is the designer of the Beat girl logo) on the track “Two Swords (Majestic Mix).” They have been joined by other 2-Tone era stars Neol Davies and Charley Anderson of The Selecter and Rhoda Dakar of The Bodysnatchers who have also contributed songs. The album also highlights the best current ska, reggae and rock bands playing in the U.K., Australia, Czech Republic and the U.S.